Gov. Patrick looks to tolls, taxes for transportation projects

Tuesday

Jan 15, 2013 at 6:00 AMJan 15, 2013 at 6:10 AM

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Installation of tolls on Interstate 84, a new transportation payroll tax, major increases in gas, sales or income taxes and higher vehicle registration fees were all put on the table by Gov. Deval L. Patrick Monday as possible sources for up to $1 billion in new annual revenue to meet transportation needs.

The governor laid out those options and more as he listed annual revenue sources that the state may consider to fill funding gaps in the road and transit systems and to finance major new rail and highway projects over the next 10 years.

The governor is expected to identify the new taxes, fees or tolls he will recommend for adoption in his State of the State address Wednesday night and in his budget proposals later this month.

From there, it will be up to the Legislature to decide whether to raise revenue for transportation needs or which of the options would be used.

Mr. Patrick again splashed cold water on the idea of raising the gasoline tax, saying it is not high on his list of options, although a report by the board of the Massachusetts Transportation Department, “The Way Forward: A 21st-Century Transportation Plan,” indicates an increase from 21 to 51 cents per gallon would raise up to $1 billion in new revenue.

Some business groups favor the gasoline tax to raise transportation funds, while a coalition of labor and community groups is supporting an income tax hike.

The initiative stems from the report that identifies the future costs of the system and the need to finance major expansion projects in the next 10 years.

“Improving our transportation system is key to meeting our economic potential,” Mr. Patrick said as he outlined the report at a meeting with state transportation, business and political leaders at the University of Massachusetts Boston campus.

He said meetings held around the state in recent months found people want more mass transit service, including buses on weekends, safer and smoother roads, and easier access to jobs, affordable housing and recreation.

“It will take a total of $1.02 billion in new revenue annually both to properly operate the system we have today and to make the modest expansion we should have to accelerate economic growth,” he said.

“If we do nothing, the public will have to pay for and get less and economic growth will slow in Greater Boston and stall out in other areas of the state,” Mr. Patrick said.

“What is plain as day is that we have choices to make,” Mr. Patrick said. “Choosing to do nothing is a choice, too. It means longer commutes, cuts in services, larger fare and fee increases and a continuation of the self-defeating economics that leave large parts of our population cut off from opportunity and growth,” he said.

The report detailed a number of revenue options. Those that would raise up to $1 billion in annual revenue, include the hike in the gas tax; raising the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 7.75 percent; increasing the income tax rate from 5.25 to roughly 5.66 percent; and adoption of a .16 percent payroll tax. Another option identified in the report released Monday would retain an estimated $120 million annually by continuation of tolls on the western part of the Massachusetts Turnpike, where tolls are set by law to be eliminated in 2017 when current turnpike bonds are paid off.

Other options outlined in the report include proposals for introducing tolls on Interstate 95, Interstate 84 or Interstate 93; use of higher-priced tolling during rush hours described as “congestion pricing”; and so-called green vehicle registration fees that would add $15 for hybrid cars and up to $85 for heavy trucks.

Also the report lists possible adoption of a tax of 2.4 cents per mile tax on vehicles, which would also raise $1 billion annually.

The Legislature called for the report last year when it went along with steep fare increases on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus and commuter rail systems, seeking a permanent solution to massive transportation deficits the state runs each year and lack of funding for new transportation projects.

The report also listed numerous transportation projects that would be funded if the revenues are raised.

They include: construction of a $1.8 billion South Coast commuter rail line from Boston to New Bedford; a $674 million MBTA Green Line extension from Boston to Medford and Somerville; an $850 million expansion of South Station in Boston to increase rail capacity; a $362 million project to create rail lines and extend commuter rail service from Worcester to Springfield; a $20 million project to run summer trains from Middleboro to Hyannis; and $113 million for new rail services from Pittsfield to New York City.

State officials said the additional revenue would also provide direct operating assistance to the MBTA and regional transit authorities around the state. They said $166 million would go to the MBTA in fiscal 2014, while an additional $11 million would go to the Worcester Regional Transit Authority which has scaled back bus service in recent years.

The plan also calls for improvements at the I-495-Mass Turnpike interchange, targeted reconstruction on Routes 9 and 20, and $12 million in interchange improvements at I-495 and Route 9 in Westboro and reconstruction of Worcester’s Quinsigamond Avenue, from Brosnihan Square to Southbridge Street.

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray endorsed the development of the plan, but, like the governor, was not disclosing which new revenue sources he favors.

Investments in the transportation system, he said, would bring new jobs and economic momentum to many parts of the state. He used the startup of commuter rail out of Union Station in Worcester as an example where new transit service has drawn major new private-sector investment.